Raise awareness of environmental health issues in order to better protect our children and future generations.

EMF Studies

18 November 2012

San Diego State University Brain Cancer Cluster from Cell Tower?

31 May 2013: This recent example from France is related to the post which follows : After two cases of cancer in children in the same village of 1,850 inhabitants in the north of France, members of three health agencies, including radiofrequency experts, travelled to the village to hold a public meeting on 22 May 2013 on this issue. Parents felt that the cause may be due to the presence of three mobile phone antennas near the school. One agency is ANSES, the French National Agency for Health, Environment, and Safety. Although not convinced that the mobile phone antennas may be the cause of the cancer, “we are not waiting until a third cancer declares itself,” said the regional delegate of Priartem, a national association for the regulation of placement of mobile phone antennas. She is outraged by the manner in which health monitoring is practiced by agencies when confronted with cancer clusters, defined as several cases of cancer (generally of the same type) observed within a group of individuals in a more or less limited geographical area and over the course of a limited period of time.” (Ref: "Radiofréquences : trois agencies sanitaires font de la pédagogie", Journal de l’environnement, 17 May 2013.)

Has any health authority seriously investigated the cancer cluster at SDSU?

A mother talks about her 29-year-old son and others at San Diego State University (SDSU) who died of brain cancer within two years of exposure. SDSU remains silent and San Diego journalists will not report the story.Please also see this article by Rich's mother, Virginia Farver.

I lost my beautiful, 29-year-old son Rich to glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain cancer on October 11, 2008.

Early in 2008, Rich was working as a teaching assistant in Political Science at San Diego State University (SDSU), where he had received his master’s degree. He was a very kind young man who would occasionally go golfing with the professors.

He was in the process of applying for law school, but had confided to me, “I don’t know that I can make it through law school because I can’t remember things.” He was having headaches, memory problems, nosebleeds and excessive sweating and fatigue. I had been noticing that something was off with him. He needed to sleep all the time. There was a blood vessel coming from the right side of his head through his hairline and protruding across this forehead. His girlfriend Jennifer told me he would sleep for hours, curled up like a cat during the day by the patio window. This was not like him.

At the time of Rich’s GBM diagnosis in March 2008, Dr. V. Tantuwaya from Poway, CA told us that his cell phone was the culprit. Rich's tumor was located in his right frontal lobe and he was right-handed. This is referred to as an ipsilateral tumor, one on the same side as where the phone was held.

Rich wanted to live. He had always been a good kid, never drank or did drugs. At 6’2”, he’d been on varsity basketball in high school, and was very healthy. So cancer was unthinkable. I told Rich I’d do anything to keep him alive. But after surgery, chemo and radiation, with nine MRIs, multiple hospitals and hospice, he died, seven months following diagnosis.

I learned that similar brain cancers were happening to others on campus. An English teacher, Laurel Amtower, thanked SDSU colleagues for their support before she went through chemo and radiation. She died, too, leaving a 12-year-old daughter. She didn’t realize that some she thanked were probably partly responsible for her death.

On August 7, 2009, nine months after Rich's death, I found articles and a video about a "Brain Cancer Cluster on the San Diego State University Campus." I read these (listed below) several times before ending up on the floor. I contacted the SDSU Administration, but was bounced around from one person to another. I then drove to San Diego and stayed the whole month of October 2009. I met off-campus with some professors mentioned in the articles. They told me they had asked for a toxicology study, as there is a huge cell tower right next to the building where Rich spent most of his time grading papers and doing research: Nasatir Hall.

After I returned home, the SDSU Administration sent me an epidemiological report written by a Dr. Thomas Mack. In the third paragraph, Dr. Mack stated he has, "no known knowledge of any chemical or radiation concerns and therefore there are none." That’s not a scientific conclusion, it’s a cover-up.

I e-mailed Dr. Mack, and he called me at home! I asked him about this cell tower on top of the Communications Building. This rises over Nasatir Hall, where most of the brain cancer victims were located. Dr. Mack quickly denied the connection to the cancer cluster. I then told him of everyone's concerns. He said, "They should be concerned." This made me furious. It didn't make any sense. And the SDSU Administration would not conduct a toxicology study because of Dr. Mack’s report! Like some professors, I have requested a study on several occasions, but have received no response.

I then looked into the tower on my own. Owned by Sprint, it has HPWREN or High Performance Wireless Research and Educational Network on it, with a BackBone Node to the UC-SD Supercomputer Center. It also has a GWEN, or Ground Wave Emergency Network, with emissions known to hug the ground. These towers are capable of sending signals hundreds of miles, including to several remote laboratories across California. There is an additional tower on campus on the KPBS News Station. Similar towers are on many college campuses across the US, via the Lambda or Tera Grid, also called the 'smart' grid. Engineers are developing “smart”, or “AMI” meters, appliances and whatever else they can dream up to deploy microwave radiation everywhere. This grid is the "military-industrial complex" of which President Dwight Eisenhower warned US citizens of in his 1961 Farewell Speech. He warned of its grave consequences. I know of these consequences.

After Laurel Amtower died of brain cancer on August 29, 2010, I contacted NBC in San Diego. At first, Producer Paul Krueger was interested in doing another story. After I gave him this new information, SILENCE.

I then contacted the San Diego Tribune. A reporter called me at home. He told me that this story would NEVER get out in San Diego. I asked, "Why?" He said, "Because of money." I also contacted the CA Governor's office and area Representative Marti Emerald. Both referred me back to SDSU.

For a month in October 2011, I stood hours each day outside the campus cafeteria, where the kids would congregate and walk to get to their classes. I had about 15 signs taped up against the wall. One said, “Will you be the next victim?” Others said, “Read your cell phone manuals. They say not to hold the phone to your head. Don’t keep it in your pocket. It will do genetic damage.” Others warned about wi-fi and more.

They looked frightened, but they would still grab their cell phones. They would text while walking and ignore everything around them. Some would take pictures, or would peek out of the side of their eyes. A few talked with me.

While there, I walked to Nasatir Hall. Kids were sitting all around. The leaves were dying on the trees. Measurements on an RF meter were beyond the range of the meter. Some kids were high up on outdoor balconies at their dorms, near the levels of the massive discs and antennas on the towers.

When I went directly to Room 131, where Rich and others who died of cancer had worked, I found it all closed up. A policeman asked me what I was doing there. I told him about my son. He asked me about the towers and told me he has two young children.

The known SDSU brain cancer victims are listed below. In addition to the brain cancers there are also breast cancers in the vicinity. The professors are afraid for both their health and their jobs. I’ve told the SDSU Administration, “I’m not going away!”

16 comments:

Illness and death from wireless devices are happening more and more, and still our government and regulatory agencies (ie. FCC) continue to state it is safe. They are supposed to protect the people, but instead protect the corporations and money. It has to stop. I'm speaking out...so should you, so should everyone. The next body in the street may be someone you love.

We are speaking out, but no one is listening to us. What bothers me even more is the silence and lack of responsibility from the medical profession, who either are not capable of or refuse to recognize that some of the illnesses they are seeing result from exposure to wireless devices. Geneva's University hospital (HUG) has WiFi in patients' rooms, including the children's hospital and the Maternity. When I try to raise awareness with doctors, I am met with silence. The psychiatry department is looking into addictions, including to the Internet, but would they think to link certain physical - and even "psychological" symptoms with spending long hours on the Internet connected through wireless devices? I live in Geneva where there is anarchic placement of mobile phone antennas and public wifi everywhere. I am the only person trying to raise awareness of this issue in the newspapers (through editorial comments - published on average once a month)and mailing information to members of the medical profession. The response from my friends and family is "we do not want to know" because it is upsetting for them to think that their wireless gadgets - which they use every day - could cause illness and even death. If you have suggestions regarding awareness-raising, please share them with us. Not many of my readers share their thoughts. You are one of the few.

Meris...I'm an older female who loves her iPhone but cannot ignore this. What steps does one take? I also work at home, having wireless devices. How does one survive this? And for Virginia Farver to lose her young son who was planning his life. Thank you for your advocacy....

Thank you for your encouragement. If you have wireless in your home, may I suggest trying to use “wired” devices wherever possible? This means a fixed phone and wired Internet service. Regarding cordless DECT phones, “Eco-mode” devices exist where the phone switches off when not in use. We should limit the number and length of calls, if using a cell phone and never hold it directly against our head. Protecting ourselves against electromagnetic radiation goes beyond the tips listed below. It is a holistic approach, including proper nutrition, supplements, exercise, meditation… I haven’t really explored these.

Here is one good article :http://mieuxprevenir.blogspot.ch/2012/07/electrosensitivity-symptoms-can-be.html

A number of other good articles can be found on the Maison du 21e siècle site (André Fauteux): http://maisonsaine.ca/

The greatest risk exists for children (cell phone, wi-fi, tablets…) and those who use their cell phones many hours per day over a long period. Exposure to cell phone antennas and smart meters seems to be a more difficult issue to deal with – we have to stand up for our right to health and fight the industries which impose these on us.

Top Ten Tips for Safer Cell Phone Use (Wireless Radiation Rescue 2012)• Use a landline whenever possible — "May I call you back on my landline?"• Use a low-tech, low SAR rated phone with a speaker function — avoid the hands free in-the-ear phones• Use on speakerphone, or with a hollow air tube headset• Limit calls, and keep powered off whenever possible• Carry away from your body — at least with the keypad or front of the cell phone facing toward the body, and the back or antenna side facing away from the body• Use outside of a car, train, elevator, airplane or other confined metal space• Use a computer with wired Internet access, with the wireless function disabled, to surf the Internet, watch movies, download music etc. not a mobile• Keep it fully charged (it has to 'amp' up more if the battery is weak, and/or if the reception is poor.)• Keep away from your sleep zone, use a battery-operated alarm clock to wake you up. Never sleep with your cell phone powered on. Charge away from humans/pets — not on 'standby' at night.• Internet Phones also carry risk — particularly when you're on wireless Internet access.http://radiationrescue.org/recommendations_283.html

As of this writing in 2017, 4G/5G and smart meter technology are being promoted with legislative language to accelerate deployment without consideration of municipal zoning, homeowner property rights or environmental or health concerns (because Telecom says there are none.)

I removed a smart meter from the side of my house and my heart palpitations of several years duration stopped. However, given the proliferation of these networks (there are 16 WiFi networks available from my neighbor's houses in my bedroom) I fear there will soon be no safe place on earth let alone my town.

Get political! Oppose the 2017-18 MOBILE NOW Act and support the EMF Scientists Appeal to the United Nations, WHO and member nations to take action

Death is sad, but sadly it is highly doubtful the towers and their emissions are not to blame. If the RF from the towers was the cause of the cancer, then this scenario would be replicated in so many other locations (in cities and countries worldwide) due to close proximity to telecom base stations - on offices, condos and other locations where people spend significant time. Moreover, the location of higher power radio and TV stations transmitters have not produced a cancer footprint around the facilities.

“… it has HPWREN or High Performance Wireless Research and Educational Network on it, with a BackBone Node to the UC-SD Supercomputer Center. It also has a GWEN, or Ground Wave Emergency Network, with emissions known to hug the ground. These towers are capable of sending signals hundreds of miles, including to several remote laboratories across California.”

It may therefore not be the usual mobile phone antenna and could have been/be emitting much stronger radiofrequencies. It may be difficult to find out more information about the antenna, but I am going to try. Another article on my site about the health effects of an antenna in Geneva revealed that the antenna also carried radar connected with the nearby airport. This augmented the effects it had on the health of the persons living directly below it.

Several other persons in the SDSU building were also treated for or died of brain cancer.

Mobile phone antennas do carry risks which is why there is resistance to their being placed too close to schools or other places where there are groups of persons more vulnerable to EM radiation (nurseries, nursing homes, etc.). Also, emissions are not always within the limits set by the authorities, as has even been the case with antennas in Switzerland owned by the telecoms operator, Orange.

One of the first chapters in the excellent new book, "An Electronic Silent Spring" is the testimony of Rich's mother. This is what she says about the cell tower beside Nasatir Hall where Rich spent so much time:

"It's a GWEN tower, installed at the highest point on campus... The antennas' signals are used for police, ambulance and Homeland Security networks. They're needed for cell phones and WiMax. San Diego State University's (SDSU) antennas were upgraded in the summer of 2005, around the time Rich arrived. Their signals broadcast for 72 miles and can penetrate most structures.

"GWEN towers are common on campuses across the country.

"The tower also holds 'cell dishes' that are part of the High Performance Wireless Research and Educational Network (HPWREN) project. These dishes provide Internet connections for SDSU, the Mount Palomar Observatory, and for Native American land. They also link CalFire and other agencies to the Internet during emergencies."

So, we can assume that this was just not the usual mobile phone tower and that its emissions were much more powerful.

The number of people that have got brain cancer or that have died of brain cancer in or next to room #131 Nasatir hall is much more than a random co-incidence and is confirmed by the fact the the room has been boarded up and closed by the university itself. Can we read the handwriting on the wall or not?

Microwave radiation the carries information or communications made by man has only been on the earth for less than a 100 years but mostly since the advent of the cell phone in 1983.

Even though we have looked hard for it all over the universe with the SETI project we have found it only on Earth and ambient levels of RF radiation are up a million billion times form 30 years ago.

Thank you. This time, I was able to view the film in our part of the world. I find it troubling that most people still cannot believe that intensive cell phone use can increase the risk for cancer. My uncle, who is in the health profession, says people can more easily identify with addiction or sleep problems, and maybe behavioral disorders as risks, but not cancer and more serious health disorders.

Hi VirginiaIt will be almost impossible to get any health agency to advocate that there is a problem with accumulation of exposure to wireless radiation. There is just too much money involved. However, I think the tide is turning especially with mothers in relation to their children. I see many advocating the Precautionary Approach until we know for sure.

The list of the people who had cancers and lived in the same residence is enough to make people stop and take notice. So, although you are frustrated in thinking you haven't done enough to warn others, you have. This is what you should bind and work with. When I get enough courage up I am going to campaign against wi fi in nursery schools.

My main concern being I did not worry when my nieces had wifi at home. Now they have a cell tower within 100m, wifi from neighbours, school, wireless devices in school, possibly smart meters and various exposures from shopping malls etc. Their mother has now restricted wireless devices in the home as she is now more aware of the potential to harm.

Also, my brother has a benign tumour in his neck. Although benign it grows and is in danger of cutting off blood supply. He carries a police radio pointed at the tumor site. Even he is not convinced that this is the cause. I feel this is partly due to the fact he doesn't want to give up his job. Again, not all policemen have neck tumors. Maybe the odds were against him. He is very fair absorbs natural radiation more, he stayed a uniformed policeman for many years unlike most who would move into other ranks thereby not carrying a radio as much.

I feel more and more people are getting concerned. Especially when we hear stories like yours.

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HELLO

My name is Meris. Through these articles, I would like to raise awareness of health and environment issues in order to better protect ourselves, our children and future generations. See also my Website in French Mieux Prévenir.

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The opinions expressed by this site are not necessarily those of its creator. While the creator of the site makes every effort to present current and accurate information, the site may contain outdated material. All information provided is for information purposes only and is not intended to replace medical advice offered by a physician or other health professionals. The creator of the site is not liable for any damage or loss related to accuracy or completeness of information.